Christianity is an historical religion. It doesn’t just give us a set of guidelines to follow or suggest a set of principles to make our lives better. Christianity and the Bible make claims that certain things really happened and that those things have significance for our lives. Because God works through history to bring about His plans, history should be important to believers. In this message we learn why Christians should value and know the history of the church. We also learn about a man named Athanasius and what his contribution has been to that history.
Resources for further study:
- “Pillars of Grace” (2 vols.) by Steven J. Lawson
- “The Story of Christianity” by Justo Gonzalez
- “Zondervan History of Christianity” by Jonathan Hill
- “Christian History Made Easy” by Timothy Paul Jones (book & DVD based study)
Lawson’s book is great. I highly endorse it! There is an equally solid book that traces the history of particular categories of theology from the earliest church fathers to today one at a time. This format allows the reader to really grasp the changes many of these doctrines underwent and also the implications upon the church when theology goes awry. The book is called ‘Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine’ and it’s written by Gregg R. Allison. It’s a very good resource.